News Release

August 23, 2007Professor Sobel to Head ABA Entertainment Forum Committee

Professor Lon Sobel, one of the top entertainment law scholars in the country, is the new Chair of the American Bar Association's Forum Committee on the Entertainment & Sports Industries.

Created in 1977, this ABA Forum serves the needs and interests of lawyers whose clients are in the entertainment, sports and arts industries. The Forum produces several educational programs each year on the legal and business aspects of entertainment, sports and the arts, and its annual meeting is primarily an educational program. The Forum also publishes The Entertainment & Sports Lawyer.

"I hope to lead the Forum into new areas such as law journal and book publishing, the creation of DVD versions of entertainment law educational programs, and given my 'day job' as a Southwestern Law School professor - programs specifically tailored to meet the interests and needs of law students," Professor Sobel said.

This year, Southwestern student Erin Jacobson will be the ABA Law Student
Division's liaison to the Forum. Although she and Professor Sobel began
their terms in office at the same time, that is purely a coincidence.
Professor Sobel did not appoint her; she was selected by the Law
Student Division itself.

The publisher and editor for over 25 years of the Entertainment Law Reporter, a key monthly publication covering legal developments in the entertainment field, Professor Sobel is also the co-author of major texts on the law and business of the entertainment and sports industries, including International Entertainment Law (Praeger Publishers, 2003) and Law and Business of the Entertainment Industries (Praeger Publishers, 1996).

Virginia entertainment lawyer Kirk Schroder heads the Forum's nominating committee, which elected Professor Sobel last October at its annual meeting. "Lon was an obvious and unanimous choice," Schroder said. "Besides the quality of his character, Lon is a distinguished scholar in this field. He is widely used as a resource throughout the industry, not only through his publications but also in his lectures and general assistance to others."

Professor Sobel has been a member of the ABA since 1970. Before becoming Chair of the Forum, which has about 5,600 members, he spent several years serving on the Forum's Governing Committee. He joined the Southwestern faculty in 2005 and is the Director of the law school's International Entertainment Law Summer Program in England.